Box 181
Contains telegrams, cables, and other documents relating to various countries' reactions to the invasion of Czechoslovakia, including Canada, Brazil, and Chile. Documents address both press and political reactions to the invasion.
Folder 2 (102 pages) - August, 1968
Contains a wealth of diplomatic cables originating from U.S. embassies overseas directed primarily to the U.S. Department of State from August 21-28, 1968. These communiques highlight global reactions and political response to the Soviet military intervention in Czechoslovakia. Of the few notable anomalies in this folder, a letter from the president of the American Communist Party to the U.S. President stands out along with an intriguing, lengthy, and articulate epistle from the head of the UAW (United Automobile Workers labor union) to the U.S. President as well, both addressing their grievances over the crisis in Czechoslovakia, albeit in decidedly opposing ways.
Folder 3 (15 pages) - March-August, 1968
Contains CIA cables detailing the information provided by the Soviet Communist Party to Communist Party USA regarding Czechoslovak Communist Party First Secretary Aleksander Dubcek and the necessity for the Soviets to invade, CIA intelligence about a meeting between Dubcek and Socialist Unity Party First Secretary Ulbricht showing the laughably deteriorated relations between Czechoslovakia and East Germany, and secret cables from the CIA to the White House situation room about Soviet repressions and Czechoslovak resistance and sabotage immediately following the invasion, among other documents.
Folder 4 (70 pages) - August, 1968
Most of these documents are dated to between the 21st and 30th of August, 1968. They consist mainly of reports concerning the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the emerging post-Prague Spring political order. Some cables were sent at the last minute by the pre-invasion Czechoslovak government, or by other local authorities as yet outside of Soviet control. Dubček's speech from August 4th is also included, broken up over 5 documents. Several documents relate to Jiří Hájek's, Dubček's Foreign Minister, trip to New York to speak before the United Nations.
Folder 5 (20 pages) - August-September, 1968
Contains fifteen cables from former National Security Advisor Walt Whitman Rostow to President Johnson, and one summary of a CIA report from the National Security Council. The documents cover a short window of time, between August 23rd and September 2nd, after the establishment of Soviet control over Czechoslovakia. They are principally concerned with the immediate political aftermath of the Prague Spring, the diplomatic fallout from the incident, and a possible Warsaw Pact invasion of Romania in retaliation for Nicolae Ceausescu's condemnation of Soviet actions. Folder 5 contains intelligence reports, an official statement from Moscow to the American Communist Party, reported interactions with Soviet ambassador Dobrynin, and accounts of diplomatic reactions to the Prague Spring and the subsequent invasion. Rostow's direct, personal, and clear-eyed prose style contrasts with the confusion and conflicting narratives of the period.
Folder 6 (15 pages) - July-September, 1968
Contains cables from the US Army attaché in Prague detailing Soviet troop movements during the invasion, intelligence cables providing greater detail on the overall fallout of the invasion, and cables identifying units and detailing their withdrawal from Czechoslovakia, among other documents.
Folder 7 (20 pages) - August-October, 1968
Contains twenty documents, the majority of which are memoranda from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Three of the twenty documents are notes from former National Security Advisor, Walt Whitman Rostow. These documents cover the time between August 30, 1968 through October 8th of the same year. A majority of the memorandums are solely about the situation in Czechoslovakia and some of the memos are updates to a previously released document—sometimes there are updates on the same day which proves how quickly some events unfolded. The recording of details such as the movements of Soviet troops in and around Czechoslovakia, and the increasing censorship in Czechoslovak society paint an acute picture of the situation in country. There are other memorandums which cover the possibility of Soviet invasion of Romania and how the U.S. can prepare for such a scenario. The efficiently written memorandums offer a fairly well-rounded view of the events in Czechoslovakia and the U.S. C.I.A’s monitoring of them.
Folder 8 (20 pages) - August, 1968
Contains 17 different CIA intelligence memoranda on the invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Folder 9 (20 pages) - July-August, 1968
Consists of CIA reports and various security official’s memos on the escalating tension and fallout of the Prague Spring. Contents include failed negotiations between Moscow and Dubcek, a summit between satellite states supporting Prague and vying for their own autonomy, as well as hour by hour reports from the ground level during the Soviet invasion.
